Author: Shane

Badass Accordion Gloves

/ Shane / 3 Comments

Guess who’s got himself a pair of badass accordion gloves?

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As a knitter, I feel like I should have something on hand (see what I did there?) to show people. Almost like a sample or something, like credentials, as if I need to prove that I’m not lying about knitting (because that’s totally what you would lie about to be cool, right?). However, as a person married to a knitter, my hats and scarves have all been provided by Sara. “Oh, did you knit your hat?” they ask. “Well, no. I mean, I could have. I do knit hats, sometimes, but not this *particular* hat…”

No, I needed something of my own.

And hey, if you’re going to go custom, go all the way custom, am I right?

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So I made myself some “convertible” gloves, that can transform from fingerless gloves into mittens with the flip of a flap. There are even little flaps for the thumbs!

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As I was picking out the pattern for the gloves, I saw some with embroidery on the knuckles, and I knew I wanted to do that. But what message to put? Something badass, something awesome, something uniquely me, and something no one else would ever have in a million years.

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Look, I’ve even got a picture of me working on my mittens in Costa Rica. Mittens! In Costa Rica!

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Now, I will admit, knitting these mittens has taken all the time that I would normally use to practice the accordion. But, hey! Now that I have the accoutrements, fame and fortune can’t be far behind, can they? If nothing else, at least I’m prepared for some winter busking.

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Quote Monday gets philosophical

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Ollie: “The world never ends, god never ends, and a hula hoop never ends.”

Sara: “Let me tell you, there’s probably no one who forgot what time to meet to give their kids away for the week.”

Ollie: “I never run out of boogies.”

Evelyn: “Are you making, like, a fruit salad, except with veggies instead of fruit?”

Back to School (yesterday)

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I know yesterday was the day for posting back to school pictures. “A day late and a dollar short” Halbach, that’s my name.

We did take these pictures yesterday, but we had an out of town visitor last night (hi Dabu!) so I didn’t get a chance to upload these. Two big kids, ready to go!

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As usual, Evie is calm, cool, and ready to go.

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She was so excited to start school, she could hardly stand it. This year is perhaps a little more serious than last year. Evie told me this morning, “We can’t talk, except at lunch and recess. It’s so hard to just sit there all day! I just have so many things to say!” Now THERE’s a daughter after my own heart.

I looked at last year’s post, where I said about Ollie, “Is it me, or did he age about 5 years this summer?” Well, he did it again. So I guess he’s like 15 now.
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Of course, his bike accident scab flaked off this morning, the day AFTER back to school pictures. Oh well.

Here’s to another good year!

Clearly, an omen

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This picture is actually from yesterday, the last day before school started. We came around the corner, and *boom*! Double rainbow, all the way.

A last hurrah for summer, or an omen for the upcoming school year? Or perhaps I just a to find a better place hide that pot of gold than under my mattress…

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Open Faced Tomato Sandwiches

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The first Friday of the month is reserved for recipes. You can see additional First Friday Food posts here.

The Reason:

Laziness. Laziness is the reason we made this.

The kids were gone and we had these tomatoes from the garden and we said, “hey, we should just, like, eat these.”

That’s how magic happens, folks.

The Journey:

I’m sure you could do this in any number of varieties, but we made two kinds and they were so good that we didn’t mess with it. So we always make the same:

  1. Tomato, sharp cheddar, and chives
  2. Tomato, boursin, and basil

It is absolutely mandatory that the tomatoes be fresh from a garden, though. Don’t defame brilliance with your sub-par, tasteless, grocery store tomato-shaped orbs.

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The Verdict:

Alright, look. So it’s not really a recipe, and I’m sure I didn’t invent it. It’s tomatoes, cheese, and bread, toasted. It doesn’t matter. IT IS SO RIDICULOUSLY TASTY. Just make it.

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The Recipe:

  • Tomatoes
  • Cheese
  • Bread
  • Fresh herbs
  1. Grow the tomatoes
  2. Slice the tomatoes
  3. Toast the bread in the broiler or on the grill or in a toaster oven or in a toaster
  4. Put some cheese on the bread
  5. Put a slice of tomato on the bread
  6. Put it back under the broiler or on the grill or in a toaster oven (But NOT back in the toaster! This is important!)
  7. Sprinkle some herbs on it.